Today I was asked what the highlight of my roadtrip was and my first thought was the Lego House in Billund, Denmark. To be fair there were lots of highlights and I don't really want to pick a favourite but there was something really unusual and unexpected about the Lego House that was totally captivating.
Billund is the home of Lego, and it was a bucket list item for my son to visit since he is and always has been a massive fan of Lego. As we drove into the town we were greeted by the sight of a beautiful white building with lots of clean angles and perfectly straight lines that genuinely took our breath away.
We parked up in a space with an hour limit and went off to look over the building and get a few photos but it was such an amazing building that as we explored I realised that 1 hour would not be enough and so I moved the car and parked up for 2 more hours and went back to play. Yes, that's right. The building as well as housing a big exhibition of Lego structures inside is also a massive playground on the outside with hidden levels and activity zones.
I will share some pictures of the overall structure some other time but for today I have selected a few images showing different perspectives of the stairs and giant seating on opposite sides of the building. It is really bold and beautiful, just wait til you see the full building.
So the last couple of days there has been a recurrent theme of flight and today I have continued the theme with this shot of a float plane at Georgian Bay.
We stopped off for lunch at Parry Sound and went down to the marina to explore a little. There were a few of these planes moored up, I have always liked the idea of taking off and landing on water and I was really tempted to take a flight over Lake Huron but there wasn't time to do it on this trip. Maybe next time. Just one of many reasons I want to go back.
Yesterday I promised that I had a real treat in store for today, and I defy you to say that I have let you down...
A couple of weeks ago I got to visit Skomer an island bird reserve in Pembrokeshire, managed by The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales. It is only accessible for a few hours per day and visitor numbers are limited to a maximum of 250 people per day. It is a short boat ride from Martins Haven to the island and then a steep climb from the landing point to what is a wonderful home to colonies of seabirds and many other species of birds. On the day I visited there were only about 100 visitors to the island and it felt like a real privilege to be there. I enjoyed speaking to other photographers (about the birds and about kit) and to some of the warden volunteers whose knowledge really added something to the experience.
I was especially keen to visit to see the Puffins that were breeding on the island and to be able to get up so close to these iconic birds was a bit of a bucket list item for me. Puffins are on the international Red List of Endangered Species and with decreasing populations they are vulnerable to extinction; although seeing the numbers on Skomer in their burrows, on the cliffs, in the air and on the water it is hard to imagine their total demise. It underlines the importance of places like Skomer where they enjoy a degree of protection.
So for today I hope you enjoy the three pictures above. I really love them and in the coming days I will share some more. I have pictures of several of the other species from around the island too, and even some landscape shots to share so make sure you come back to see.
When I visited Skomer I wasn't expecting to see acres of bluebells in full bloom but that is what I saw and so I'm sharing a couple of shots taken with my phone.
Visiting Skomer was something of a bucket list activity for me and soon I will share some pictures of the real stars of the island but for now these shots area taste of wild beauty.
